Third Strike You're Out!
by SpeakingThroughWrittenWords
Summary: They were not really kisses... but they proceeded to irritate Sasuke anyways. Who thought this would be an issue in the Sound?
1. Air

**Air**

The first time Kabuto kissed Sasuke, the young ninja had not been expecting it. It was three months, a week, and five days into his training and the first time that he had been sent to the medic nin because he was ill. Orochimaru had _the_ tone of voice when he said it, the tone which Sasuke never argued with. Which was the only reason he ended up in Kabuto's lab when he would much rather have been trying to sleep the bug off.

Kabuto did not look at him when he came in. Sasuke merely waited as the door shut behind him, doing his best not to cough. To walk through the halls, lit with so many lights and yet never seeming to be bright enough, Kabuto's lab was blinding. More light then anyone else had in the Sound Village, something Sasuke had finally become certain of. Cleaned to the point that he wondered whether the white haired man would be taking a mop out after he left so as to remove any imprint of his shoe. Sasuke made sure to let his foot skid over the ground, just for the hell of it. Unfortunately, Kabuto was faced away so Sasuke could not try to catch the tell tale sign of when he was bothered.

A simple twitch in the left eye, like a flicker of flame. It did not always happen.

"What have you done to yourself today, Sasuke?" Kabuto asked simply. Sasuke knew that he knew, which was why he must have asked. There was little in the Sound that Kabuto did not know. Whether Orochimaru encouraged it, or whether the Sannin just found it amusing did not matter really. Orochimaru's pet was allowed certain things that not even Sasuke was. He would not have cared, but for the fact the other was still stronger then him. At the moment.

Sasuke did not answer him, though he did finally cough. Walking over, he sat on the counter across from whatever experiment that Kabuto was conducting. He did not allow his eyes to trail over. Curiosity was one of the last things that Sasuke wanted Kabuto to find him with in here. Plus, when he had walked in, he was certain he had seen a hand from over Kabuto's shoulder. Maybe attached to an arm, but if there had been a body Sasuke would have been able to see it.

"Orochimaru sent me," Sasuke grumbled, stating the obvious. Hearing the snap of the latex gloves coming off, meaning it was his turn, Sasuke tried to bore holes in the back of Kabuto's head while he had the chance. To get it out of his system. No matter, Kabuto probably knew that he still unnerved Sasuke after all this time. Trying to hide it would just amuse him. Despite knowing that, Sasuke made sure his face only held a bored expression when Kabuto turned around. One did not have to have been a spy to be able to hide their emotions. That was merely what being a ninja was about.

"My, Sasuke, you do not look well at all." Sasuke failed almost instantly, because the irritation that welled up was not the sort he was used to hiding. He glared at the older man. The smile on Kabuto's face made things so much worse. At least when Orochimaru said words like that, Sasuke could be certain he was somewhat concerned. Orochimaru was protective over him, despite the amount of bones broken and scars created from his tutelage.

"That's the point," he muttered, letting Kabuto come close enough for the check up. It was not the first time and Sasuke had come to just accept the routine. As opposed to his first checkup, when it did not. Chidori versus chakara scalpel. He was certain that the big ball of blue electricity would defeat the tiny, minuscule, scalpel. He was wrong.

Kabuto knew what he was doing. Sasuke had to try and not question whether what he was doing was actually good for him.

"Orochimaru-sama must be having a fit."

"Why?" The question left his mouth before he could stop it, escaping with another cough. Sasuke felt his jaw being yanked down as Kabuto peered down his mouth, the bright lighting all he needed.

"Because you won't be training for a little while," Kabuto answered, letting go and pulling out a drawer next to Sasuke's leg. The amusement in Kabuto's voice was plain, he was not trying to hide it at all. A break from becoming strong was the last thing Sasuke needed and the other knew it.

"You say it like he already knows," Sasuke pointed out, wondering for not the first or the last time how Kabuto knew what he was pouring when none of his bottles were labeled.

"Of course he knows," Kabuto stared back up at him, none of the astonishment that he had put into his voice in his eyes. Sasuke was never sure which ones were lying, but he was pretty sure that Kabuto was being sarcastic. "I think you constantly forget who you've given custody of yourself to."

Kabuto must have meant Orochimaru. Sasuke found himself asking himself anyways.

"Drink," Kabuto ordered, handing over a cup. Sasuke eyed it, the small container only being touched by Kabuto's pointer finger and thumb. He did not reach for it immediately. The boy had his reasons. First of all, he did not know what it was. Secondly, Kabuto was the one who taught him not to take things when he did not know what it was. Third, Sasuke hated medicine. Although he would be the last to admit it.

"It's only medicine," Kabuto smirked, an expression Sasuke always wanted to rip off his face except for the knowledge Kabuto would be able to sew it back on. "You don't think I'd poison you?" It was the silliest thing for the medic to suggest and both of them knew it. Even if Sasuke could never say that with a hundred percent certainty. Poison and medicine seemed to be pretty close to the same thing in Kabuto's book. Or Sasuke's book of Kabuto, filled with maybe one page of absolute facts and many more pages of 'what the hells'.

The truth was, if Sasuke was about to be kept from training a few days, he did not see why he could not just sleep it off. He coughed again. Kabuto rose an eyebrow.

"Don't make this difficult," Kabuto said sweetly, something Sasuke always knew was a falsity. Kabuto and sweet just did not mix, though he could pull it off nicely. It was not his words that Sasuke was paying attention to though. It was the cup which was now out of his reach, whether Sasuke wanted it or not.

For the cup went up to the other's lips slowly, the wry smile triumphant in some way, but only an instant. As a flame first being lit.

The first time that Kabuto kissed Sasuke, the young ninja had not been expecting it. He should have, when thinking about it in retrospect. The look in the doctor's eyes when it crossed his mind was as if Christmas had come early. AKA, it was as if Kabuto knew Sasuke's reaction before Sasuke did and it pleased him to no end that even though Sasuke pushed Kabuto away, he first swallowed the medicine that Kabuto's tongue had pushed into his mouth.

"Plenty of bed rest as well," Kabuto said before Sasuke could say a word, leaving him to glare at Kabuto between coughs. Kabuto just smiled as if nothing strange had happened, ruffling Sasuke's hair. "Now run along."

"Bastard," Sasuke hissed as Kabuto turned around and went back to the other counter. Hearing the snap again of gloves, Sasuke decided that was it. Trying to find a way of bothering Kabuto would take too much of the energy he did not have. He scuffed his feet on the floor on the way to the door. A tap of metal on the counter was Sasuke's signal he had succeeded. He did not feel the small victory.

After Sasuke left, he was certain that he heard Kabuto finally move into the adjoining room to clean out his mouth. The most sought after ninja in Konoha, mouth to mouth with someone he had not wanted to be with, and Kabuto did not seem to care. Not that Sasuke blamed him, for at that moment Sasuke had the same idea. Although he might have spent a bit longer at the sink then was necessary.

Orochimaru covered a cough a few days later, during training. For some reason, it was not as satisfying as the cough that Sasuke heard from Kabuto shortly after.

* * *

_First entry into the Naruto world... I suppose it was inevitable. Not much to say but I hope you like and if so review._


	2. Water

**Water**

The second time Kabuto kissed Sasuke, Sasuke had not seen it coming. Of course, he had not really seen much at that moment in time, let alone Kabuto. It had been eight months, three weeks, and one day into his training and the first time he had been allowed to leave the boundaries of the Sound. Not on his own, of course. Orochimaru smiled, as though Sasuke had wanted that to be the case. Sasuke did not quite understand why Orochimaru would think that. He came here on his own accord. If Sasuke wanted to leave, nothing would stop him. However, it would require wanting it.

No, it was not a problem at all, except for whom Orochimaru thought it was best to send with him. To Sasuke's comfort, although just barely, _he_ did not want to go with him in the first place. Just like Sasuke did not want to go with him. Whether he had kissed him or not those six months ago made no difference. He wanted nothing to do with the ninja.

"What?" Kabuto blinked, staring back at Orochimaru. It was not the first time Sasuke was wondering what made Kabuto so special. Orochimaru could have any other medic (though he had talent), any other spy (though Kabuto's alliance even surprised Sasuke), or any other scientist (which Sasuke did not want to know about), Sasuke did not see what Kabuto had which made him the only person other then Sasuke not to flinch when Orochimaru entered the room.

To Kabuto, it seemed Orochimaru was a colleague – above him and called him master – but no one else would treat someone like that as Kabuto treated Orochimaru. Sasuke was never allowed to talk back to the Sannin. Kabuto did it daily.

"I said you're taking Sasuke out," Orochimaru almost hissed with amusement. If Sasuke was not just being threatened with spending time with the last person in the Sound he wanted to be with, he might have been amused as well. It was not often he saw Kabuto caught off guard. Orochimaru seemed to be the only person who could do it.

"For a walk, or on a date?" Kabuto questioned, cocking his head ever so slightly. Sasuke glowered at him, but Orochimaru chuckled and Sasuke shifted his glare on to him. It was not as if Orochimaru could tell he was glaring at his back, right?

Of course, one is either right about Orochimaru, or dead. Sasuke prided himself on having not made a mistake, when he knew in actuality he was one of the two that seemed exempt from that rule.

"To show him the borders," Orochimaru corrected lightly. Kabuto glanced over towards Sasuke a look that said '_He just doesn't want to train you right now_' which Sasuke would have loved to ignore. Instead, he found himself outside with a shinobi who did not want to be with Sasuke just as much as Sasuke did not want to be with him. Both could think of better things to do. But when Orochimaru said something – then there obviously was nothing better to do.

Kabuto easily turned that around. Sasuke would be unable to complain to Orochimaru about it, as Kabuto was doing what Orochimaru had ordered him to. He was just making it very annoying. Annoying enough that Sasuke was beginning to wonder what Kabuto would do if Sasuke just escaped him. It was not as if Orochimaru would get mad at Sasuke, for it was not as if he was running away from Sound. No, it would just escape Kabuto's responsibility and he would get in trouble. So Sasuke amused himself with thinking about it.

Although soon enough Sasuke was not just thinking about it, he was considering it seriously. For the subtle yet obvious references Kabuto put into his words of Konoha was about to cause Sasuke to snap. Especially when Kabuto made no secret of a certain name. Especially when he was brought to a certain place.

"... although I don't suppose you need any particular familiarization with the Valley of the End," Kabuto said, a particular smirk that told Sasuke he knew everything. How he could ever know everything – as Sasuke knew it could not be possible – but he did not want to risk discovering how much the man actually knew.

Sasuke stopped in mid stride, staring at Kabuto's back until the other turned around.

"You're right," Sasuke responded simply. "I don't."

Kabuto then was eying him with a very strange look, as if contemplating something he was not certain of. It threw Sasuke for a loop completely. He never doubted Kabuto had to be uncertain at times, but he had always masked it. That impenetrable mask which Sasuke had never seen broken. It had been like a flame, never changing, the only way to see past would be to smother it completely.

"Forget about Naruto, Sasuke," Kabuto said softly, no edge of mocking in his tone this time, "How are you to be an avenger if you cannot think back to the correct moments of your life?"

Sasuke's eyes almost changed.

Then he was gone.

Kabuto never knew how lucky he was that Sasuke did not strike him there. Sasuke may not have held a match to Kabuto's powers when he first arrived, but things had changed. He no longer could be taken out so easily by the medic nin. And _no_ one had the right to speak to him of Itachi.

Not Orochimaru. Not Naruto. Not Kabuto.

A snap of a branch turned Sasuke around, waiting to see the inevitable. On guard for everything, he missed one angle. The one hundred and eighty one. And it was not behind him.

"Running away again?" Kabuto teased as Sasuke's head shot up to see Kabuto standing on the underneath of the branch above him. Sasuke manipulated his chakra and did the same, except did not stay where he was. The idea of arriving back to the Sound without Kabuto was appealing to him greatly. Anything to get the other in trouble.

"You've improved, but not that much."

Sasuke did not rise to the bait, taking comfort from those words Kabuto was worried about losing him. Not that the man would loathe to be rid of him, but everything went back to Orochimaru. Everything Kabuto did reeked of the man. Sasuke believed that, anyways, even if sometimes it did not make much sense.

"You're adorable when you're irritated," Kabuto somehow managed to say with a straight face. Sasuke merely glared in response before escaping Kabuto's range again.

"Sasuke, you've got a little smudge right – here!"

"It wasn't the squirrel's fault, you know."

"If I wasn't being so entertained, I would remind you how childish you're being. But you are a child still, aren't you?"

Sasuke did not relax, but he took the compliment in which Kabuto was not waiting to see him just to say words. It meant he had managed to escape his gaze. It meant Sasuke was free from having to respond for just a little bit longer.

Deliberate rustling of leaves unnerved him, they always would. For a ninja to deliberately give away his position...

"Boo."

Sasuke turned immediately to see Kabuto's snaky grin before he darted out of his reach. Kabuto then, vanished.

Sasuke finally allowed his eyes to widen. Running _away_ from Kabuto was one thing. But losing him? Only then did he realize how tightly strung Kabuto had set him up. Messing with him – acting as no one else in the Sound would ever act towards him. Playing a game of cat and mouse, where the cat and mouse changed places. For a moment, if he closed his eyes, he could almost believe he was back in Konoha.

Except when he closed his eyes, the trees smelled sour. And he never worried about those he was forced to be comrades with ever killing him.

Sasuke did not try and close his eyes. He had moved after the other, if just for the reason of burying a kunai in the other's chest, far enough in that healing right there would be ridiculous. Seeing Kabuto crossing the river, Sasuke followed, just to feel a finger slid up the back of his neck.

Again he turned. Again Kabuto was there.

But his foot slipped.

It was something Sasuke had contemplated only once before. Death from anyone else but his brother. Haku... but he was young then. Not Orochimaru, not Kabuto, not... Naruto. But death from falling in a river? Even Sasuke could think of the stupidity of that action. Or he would have been able to normally, except the pain which surfaced almost instantly on the back of his head, and inhaling the water... it was not something he did normally. Or at least never tried to make a part of his normal routine. He had enough thoughts to try and keep from breathing. Controlling the muscles in his diaphragm from expanding – breathing –

He was not quite certain when the water had stopped encompassing him. Not enough energy to feel anything, not enough to open his eyes, but strangely he could hear still. Everything sounded distorted, but it was there. Sasuke wondered whether it was a good thing.

"This is the body Orochimaru-sama wants?"

He could not breathe.

"...not the mind."

The second time Kabuto kissed Sasuke, Sasuke had not seen it coming. Again it was not a kiss. Sasuke could not tell Kabuto's mouth was on his until he finally felt the air being pushed into his mouth as Kabuto proceeded with CPR. Hands pressing down so as to instigate the water leaving his lungs. If Sasuke recalled back a time when Kabuto lingered longer when his breath was no longer needed, he knew it to be a fact a hallucination from his fuzzy head.

Finally Sasuke's eyelids moved when he wanted them to, blearily seeing the white haired ninja above him, looking down with a smirk – as if nothing bad had just happened.

"You would think a shinobi would learn how to swim."

Sasuke tried to glare at Kabuto, but found his eyes crossed unless he shut them. So out of it was Sasuke, that he could not even attempt to rise in protest when Kabuto lifted him from the ground and began carrying him. The only part of this excursion which Sasuke bothered to think about from time to come was why. It was Kabuto. So why?

Was it concern, nothing, or fear? Concern for Sasuke's safety, just something he decided to do on a lark, or fear of Orochimaru's reaction if Sasuke did not return safely?

Listening Orochimaru for once berate Kabuto, although the medic did not cower, let Sasuke know it had to be the last.


	3. Earth

**Earth**

The third time Kabuto kissed Sasuke, he did not.

Sasuke kissed him.

It was not something Sasuke had planned to do, very un-ninja-like and probably not the smartest thing in the world. Certainly after one year, two months, and five days Kabuto was no longer on Sasuke's 'I wish he'd die' lists, but that certainly was not an incentive to kissing him. Having a friend in the Sound was not something Sasuke had intended. He had not wanted it. After all, his goals required no friends, merely power. But Sasuke found himself swayed to it anyways, because he could not help it.

No matter what he tried to be, he was still Human.

So when he kissed him it was spontaneous. Lying where Orochimaru had knocked him to the floor, Kabuto came into his vision, the usual smile – as if he knew exactly what was going through Sasuke's head – on his face. One of the ways Kabuto could annoy Sasuke instantly. Sasuke would have liked to say he was getting better, but it depended on how one saw it. Certainly he was getting better at not reacting to anyone else, but still Kabuto had the same effect on him. Which made Sasuke want to punch him in the face at times, but at least that was an easier impulse to control.

"Diagnosis?" Sasuke asked weakly, making certain that he was not actually seeing stars above him, because he knew there was a ceiling there and so such a thought would not make any sense.

Sasuke had fallen into the habit of asking more questions, not being ashamed so much at not knowing the answers. After all, he was not a specialist in the field of medicine (only knowing what he could tell from his own body) and learning about it could only advance him. He had never known how interesting some of these things could be – it was almost as if a fire had been lit. Only good could come from this knowledge. Like knowing if he had to deal with a broken bone or something. Sometimes Sasuke wondered whether Orochimaru was actually looking forwards to taking over his body, considering how many times he had thrashed it around.

"You'll live, how about that?" Kabuto said through amusement, which again made Sasuke want to punch the man in the face. When did living become such a huge joke? He nearly started then. Actually, when had living not been a big joke?

"Wonderful," he breathed, letting Kabuto's hands play across his body, stopping at certain places and checking the bone and muscle... Sasuke knew the routine by now. And it was the wanting to disrupt such a routine which caused him to commit the action which never plagued his thoughts before.

Bringing a hand up, Sasuke pulled Kabuto down by the collar and kissed him. It almost surprised him, but seeing Kabuto's mask crack he could not help but smirk. Unfortunately, smirking in the middle of a kiss was harder to do then some people might think and so he had to pull away, lying flat on the ground again. Kabuto was still staring at him, probably still not registering what Sasuke had just done. Sasuke rose an eyebrow and waited for him to react. Because realizing the other was having trouble doing that was also amusing. And as long as he was thinking about Kabuto's reactions he would not have to think about his own.

"What was that for?" Kabuto asked, a small smile of his own appearing. Not that it mattered much, Sasuke had already received his victory by Kabuto's first reaction. Smirk not disappearing, he shrugged.

"You have a problem with it?" he challenged softly, before a finger was pressed on his lips.

"My, my, Sasuke... I think the one with the problems here is _you_," Kabuto mentioned truthfully (although it was strange to think it was the truth) as he went back to his job. Sasuke felt completely bewildered. How could Kabuto turn everything around by pretending nothing happened? Sasuke was sulking, though he would never admit it. Not that he needed to, Kabuto seemed to be able to tell as soon as he had done it.

Kabuto's mouth was a lot closer to his face, the constantly amused medic-nin watching him intently. "Now don't be like that, Sasuke, many people have problems." His breath ghosted Sasuke's ear, making the hair at the back of his neck stand on end. Just like the hair on the back of his head.

Then Orochimaru had come back and Kabuto assured his master that Sasuke would be up for the rest of his lesson. Sasuke elbowed Kabuto in the stomach, but it did not stop the white haired shinobi from laughing.

The fourth time Sasuke had been waiting for it. Kabuto was not laughing when he caught Sasuke later, pushing the younger boy against the wall and thoroughly kissing him, just as quickly there as a forest fire. Sasuke was not certain whether to be surprised, annoyed, or pleased, and settled on a mixture of the three. Letting the other ravish his mouth with his tongue, Sasuke proceeded on hitting him on the head with his sword's sheath when the other pulled away.

"Idiot," Sasuke snorted, as Kabuto rubbed the offended part of his head with a hand. "You're not doing it right."

"And you would have experience in this matter?" Kabuto asked, pretending to be confused. Sasuke decided not to reward the correct guess with any sort of answer. At least, no answer which was vocalized. After all, Sasuke was still trying to fill in that book of his and he already knew what Kabuto might say if he tried to come up with a comeback at this moment.

So the fifth time, Sasuke tried to show Kabuto how he wanted it done, and Kabuto said he would give it consideration.

Then Sasuke lost count. What was the point of counting anyways? And Kabuto was still annoying. Just... slightly less annoying. All which was fine with him.

After all, Sasuke always had something to hold over Kabuto's head now. But he could not laugh when Kabuto would leave him breathless, smiling, and saying he had work to do.

Bastard.


	4. Fire

If you want a happy ending, pretend chapter three was the last chapter. Because you are not about to get one here.

**Fire**

"_Be nice with my future body, Kabuto-kun," Orochimaru drawled after he had found out. Kabuto had his face turned away from his master, but Sasuke could see the sudden spasm of disgust which had fractionally overcome his features._

"_I'll kill him," Sasuke assured Kabuto for the second time, after Orochimaru had left. Kabuto blinked at him a few times before smiling. Sasuke could tell it was lacking something, just as when his voice did not match his eyes._

"_Oh Sasuke, of course you will."_

_He did not believe it. Sasuke was, no doubt about it, peeved at the lack of belief. He was going to kill Orochimaru._

-- -- -- -- --

"The medicine's not enough anymore... At best, he could have lasted until tomorrow, but more than likely he'd need to do the soul transfer ritual today."

Kabuto paused, wondering how so much time passed him by. What really had changed since the beginning? He had come to close to the person whom his master was planning to take over, that was what he had done.

"Still... I never would've guessed Sasuke-kun would be so quick to say 'yes'."

How could this depress him as it did? It had been about two years before when he first heard the words 'I'll kill him,' uttered so vehemently from Sasuke's lips. Kabuto had always wanted to believe him, but knew at that point it was impossible. Now it was too late and even Sasuke knew it. He had not been able to become stronger then Orochimaru and now it was the end. Unless Sasuke had a plan of action to be able to turn the ritual to his own advantage?

_It doesn't matter... even Sasuke won't be able to survive the ritual..._

Kabuto felt fazed, just in the slightest, though it did not show on his face. Something learned when he was very young – it was merely habit to do now. Just as his reaction to blood was amounted to little except for coming to attention. It came from Orochimaru's chambers. Kabuto's heart skipped a beat and he came to attention. What had happened? Hearing no movement from within he could assume whatever it was now was over, but who could it be?

Orochimaru being dead never occurred to him. It was something he could not quite believe.

And when he saw Sasuke in the room, Kabuto's mind kept thinking in order to keep him from realizing the inevitable.

_What's Sasuke doing here? The giant snake's molting... The ritual's over already? What the hell happened?_

"Kabuto?"

Never before had Kabuto broken one of his master's orders. Stepping out from behind the door frame, he stood there and stared at Sasuke's body, waiting for the words he always thought Orochimaru-sama would say once he had accomplished this long-term goal.

But he kept walking, walked right by him without another word, without even looking at him. Kabuto felt petrified as the body kept walking. Was... was it Orochimaru?

He did not know.

He almost wished it was...

"Which one are you?"

"Which one do you think?"

Kabuto's mask was breaking and the other knew it. Who he wanted it to be was different then the one he knew was there. It hurt for some odd reason – first that he would think that and second...

Never before had Kabuto made the mistake of looking directly into Sasuke's eyes, but now he found himself in the depths of them. The wasted land around him, no light but somehow being able to see, the two figures in the distance. This was where the soul ritual took place, he was certain.

They were both fighting, if that was what one could call it, being covered by the cracked ground as if to turn the both of them into statues. Sasuke's expression never changed. He knew he was in control. Orochimaru knew it too, but refused to accept it.

"This – This can't be happening! I created this dimension! There's no way... There's no way! There can't be! This is my—"

"Orochimaru," Sasuke interrupted softly, "Against my eyes, none of your jutsu... actually, you know the rest."

Kabuto wanted out, even before he had seen anything, but this was much worse. He did not need to see this to know who was in control and Sasuke knew it. Knew it and was playing with him by showing him how weak his former master was at this point. Orochimaru's screams came as nothing to Kabuto. Blinking again, there was Sasuke, just standing there, those eyes swirling.

"Orochimaru-sama... is dead."

How come he had wanted to say that for a very long time, yet it did not feel right? How come the first smile Sasuke had given him today was at those words? Kabuto knew straight away. Because he was wrong. Sasuke always smiled when he was wrong, for how often was that the case during these last three years?

"Wait..." he wanted to correct himself, do something, because he knew what Sasuke was going to do next. "It's more like..."

"I've taken over."

His extra words meant nothing. It did not even halt him. Sasuke walked away without another word. Kabuto was unable to do anything but stare at Sasuke's retreating back. He should have known this was going to happen. Sasuke never pretended any different this would be the case when he said he was going to kill Orochimaru. But he did not and it did not seem to bother the boy at all.

It bothered Kabuto though. Immensely. Sasuke was acting as if everything they had ever spoken of had never occurred. Like he had never kissed him.

He should have expected nothing less, Kabuto realized, hours later when he had moved to the former body of Orochimaru. Sasuke was always going to leave him, one way or the other. It did not make him feel much better about it. After all, Itachi was the only one Sasuke really saw. Defeating the strongest one here, there was no point in staying.

It was about a year ago Kabuto had known Sasuke was stronger then he was. A sense of foreboding had begun then. For good reason. If only Kabuto had not been so stupid!

Falling in love with someone who only had one goal. Kabuto's laughs shook his body like a leaf burning away in the bare embers of a fire. Sasuke was the flame that started it, one so beautiful, but ravaged whatever it touched. A fire storm had been here and was now gone, leaving behind the wasted land it had previously claimed.

He would become stronger and continue onwards.

Not that he expected the burnt land to ever heal.


End file.
